Friday, April 11, 2014

George Soros: "The Godfather of the Left"

While the flailing debate about the role of campaign money from Kansas has turned up the newspaper industry and political pundits, another dark figure in politics is not getting the attention that he deserves:

George Soros.

From Western Journalism:

George Soros is chairman of Soros Fund Management, a hedge fund company. Soros is number 27 on Forbes list with a net worth of $23 billion. He’s made his fortune in large part by selling short against international currencies and collapsing financial institutions. In 1997, he was dubbed “the man who broke the Bank of England”; and he was blamed by the Malaysian Prime Minister for collapsing their currency during the Asian financial crisis. He was also convicted of illegal financial dealings in France. His big bet now is collapsing the U.S. dollar and the free enterprise system.

Ouch! Forget about the 1% -- how about the .1% who breaks down the financial institutions of the 1% or even the other 99%?Economist Paul Krugman has been critical of Soros and others like him, “who not only move money in anticipation of a currency crisis, but actually do their best to trigger that crisis for fun and profit. These new actors on the scene do not yet have a standard name; my proposed term is ‘Soroi’.”

Paul Krugman, the Obama Cheerleader who blasted a recent stat report which outlines Republican victory in 2014 -- he has criticized George Soros, too.

Now, the contributing columnist reporting on Soros' influence in politics, Richard Larsen, announced that the Koch Brothers have contributed significantly to libertarian-classical liberal causes.What about Soros?

George Soros runs the Open Society Institute and the Soros.org website; and he contributes heavily to many organizations that ideologically are aligned with leftist causes, including Moveon.org. He is reviled abroad for his shady efforts to foment revolution and collapse currencies. His foundations have been accused of shielding spies and breaking currency laws, and he’s invested over $400 million in institutions of higher education to promulgate and teach his extremist ideology.
Wow!

This revelation is more disturbing:

Since most of the Koch’s political money goes into lobbying, their funds are well documented, as required by congressional accounting rules. With most of Soros’ political “investments” going into 527s, the funds are less traceable and has earned Soros the dubious honor of being dubbed the “Godfather to the left.”This article emphasises that these left-leaning values to not reflect the Constitution, a civic culture of federalism, individual and state sovereignty, as well as limited government based on enumerated powers.George Soros: The Godfather of the Left? Has he made the Democratic Party an offer which they could not refuse? Is he planning on putting the American people cement shoes and make us sleep with the fishes?

Why hasn't anyone raise the alarm about this guy, or at least investigate these claims?

Now's the time to start holding Soros accountable for the groups and interests which he supports. . .

"The classical-liberal principles of individual freedom and free markets that are so fully embraced and advanced by Charles and David Koch are the very principles the nation was founded upon. They are the principles that made America great. The progressive socialistic agenda advanced by Soros is antithetical to America’s founding precepts, and is heavily invested in the failure of not only the U.S. dollar, but the collapse of the U.S. economic system.

"As distasteful as the pay-for-influence system is, the ideological objectives and uses of that influence should be of even greater concern. Should we fear those who support the ideals that made America great, or the one who seeks to destroy and fundamentally transform the country?"

The Koch Brothers are up front about the principles which they want to restore (not create), while Soros and labor unions use hostile, immoral or unethical means to make the case for ideas which are unproven, ineffective, or just plain wrong.

Key players in the Koch-backed network have already begun engaging in the 2014 midterm elections, hiring new staff members to expand operations and strafing House and Senate Democrats with hard-hitting ads over their support for the Affordable Care Act.

Its funders remain largely unknown; the coalition was carefully constructed with extensive legal barriers to shield its donors.

But they have substantial firepower. Together, the 17 conservative groups that made up the network raised at least $407 million during the 2012 campaign, according to the analysis of tax returns by The Washington Post and the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics.130 years of networking against 40. Yet, those who benefit from the Koch family fortune would claim that the latter is comparable to the former, that they are equal even as they are opposite. Even a simple glance at the different level of connections reveals this to be false.

There are generations of families which owe their political fortunes to the Koch family, from Harry’s endorsement of Prescott Bush for Senate to David’s financing of James Inholfe of Oklahoma for his Congressional run. No such generational status exists for Soros, nor will there be for many years to come, if ever.

The Koch family controls the second largest privately owned corporation in the United States, while Soros controls the Soros Fund Management, a small investment group with assets less than 1% that of any of the top-10 investment groups in the US.

Whenever the mention of the Koch family and their influence on politics comes up, it is inevitable that someone on the other side brings up the name of George Soros, proclaiming him as no different.130 years of networking against 40. Yet, those who benefit from the Koch family fortune would claim that the latter is comparable to the former, that they are equal even as they are opposite. Even a simple glance at the different level of connections reveals this to be false

Harry Koch came to the United States as part of the Dutch banking backed railroad boom in Texas during the 1880′s, and quickly established himself by purchasing one of the newspapers in the small town of Quanah, Tx, which today is called the Tribune-Chief. Checking the archives of this paper, you can find arguments against Social Security, minimum wage, unions, even attempts to label the right to vote as “Mobocracy” and that the right to vote was against the Founding Fathers intent for America. He became a large investor in a railroad firm, using his newspaper to undermine the anti-trust and anti-monopoly attacks against the corporate giants appearing throughout the nation. He made the case that large monopolies were in the best interest of the people, that they would be benevolent benefactors.

Harry’s son, Fred, expanded upon his fathers mantra, becoming an oil and chemical magnate. He also began funneling portions of his amassed fortune into a new concept, the political advocacy group. One of the more notable of these being the John Birch Society.

In total, adjusted to todays dollars the amount invested in right-wing causes, from the newspapers to the societies as well as think tanks such as the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation, the amount put into such effort comes to over $50 billion over the past 130 years.

Soros, the orphaned child of holocaust victims.George Soros was born in 1930 Hungary, the child of a Jewish family. He survived the Holocaust, and became a stockbroker and trader. He came with his family fortune gone, and built himself up from the ashes, literally.

Soros did not begin his philanthropic ventures or his political activities until the 1970′s, when he began financing anti-apartheid groups in South Africa as well as anti-Communist groups behind the iron curtain. He founded such groups as the Open Society Institute. His wealth is estimated at about $8 billion.

Yet, somehow, Soros has, with his $8 billion, come to parity against the Koch family, now in their 3rd and 4th generation of political punditry. Even in terms of total value, each of the two elder Koch brothers, David and Charles, individually is worth 150% what Soros is worth. Together, they absolutely crush his net worth. Add in their other two brothers as well as cousins, Soros is a minor player.

In time, the Soros family may come to rival the Koch family.If we were talking about Soros’ grandchildren, instead of the elder Soros, and they had personal values in excess of $100 billion, then we can discuss any possibility of parity between the two. Soros is, at his best, on par with Harry Koch, the founder of the dynasty, and for many of the same reasons, an immigrant who built his fortune by trading and dealing. He has a 90 year disadvantage for political favors and punditry by comparison.

The issue is never about net worth, but how individuals spend their worth -- whether on worthy or unworthy causes. Support Democrats, socialist causes, and leftist agendas: those are unworthy causes altogether.

Art, you don't know your ass from the hole in your head. As far as my full name? You seem quite obsessed with that, but then you're a guy who uses three names--sort of like Lee Harvey Oswald. You don't strike me as one who could win a debate with his dinner, frankly. Just repetitive right-wing blather repeated from the usual blogs. No insight, all bullshit, obsessively tweeted to other right-wing dickheads. Just like all the other lonely guys out there in the right-wing blogosphere, AKA: Bullshit Mountain.

Oh, Arthur! Such BS---and from a "Christian", no less! Jesus prays for you, and you have hurt his heart! Don't you know it's the Koch Brothers who have far more influence than George Soros ever will? I'll bet Jesus knows! For instance, the New Republic's Jonathan Cohn wrote, "the primary way the Kochs influence politics [is] through unregulated, indirect financing of conservative political organizations." In the 2012 election alone, the Koch-founded nonprofit, Americans for Prosperity, spent $122 million and the rest of the Koch-backed network of politically active nonprofit groups raised $407 million.

Koch-linked dark money groups have already spent $25 to $30 million in advertisements targeting Democratic congressional candidates running in key 2014 races. To put this spending into perspective, The New Republic compared Koch campaign spending to that of unions, and found that the spending of one Koch brother or affiliate was the equivalent to the spending of 515,000 union members.

Arthur, you claim you are a "Christian". Such BS for a "Christian", my brother! Somewhere Jesus is weeping!